Perhaps it was the early Easter that ushered in the earlier dogwood blossoms perfectly set against the purple redbuds in our hometown and so can Dogwood Winter be far behind?

Maybe it was the 80-degree weather or the countryside painted in every pastel flower color, and even high gas prices didn't keep people from being outside and active last week. You may have been mowing, gardening, driving to every yardsale or trying to get inside busy restaurants. At the end of the week, I managed to take time for the grand opening of Wright's pool service and was impressed with the expanded business at the East Broadway Shopping Center. I got to see many friends and met a few folks. I had not seen Alyce Moore since her stroke but she looked great. There must have been a hundred people. Carson Wright probably has one of the few indoor business pools filled with water. It made a few of us like Tony Barnes, Amy Pitts, and Jeff Ball want to jump in. I said "hello" to the businesses' employees, Linda Stahlin and Vonda Banks. Outside for the ribbon cutting Dan Ford was standing next to a tall, distinguished fellow. He is Ronnie Forrester, originally from Hot Springs NC and a former Hickory businessman. His connection here is that his late wife was Lois Woody. You may know that she is a sister to Shirley Gregory, wife of Skip Gregory. Ronnie is anxious to get involved in Cocke County as a volunteer, so you might want to call him up.

Later, I also had a good time at lunch with Vaughn Moore and Billy Ball, a fellow I have admired for many years. But actually, know little about him or his family. He did share something interesting about how he overcame a serious health problem. I always thought he had some circulation or heart problem but that was not the diagnosis of a most mysterious ailment. I'll tell you about it later. Just across from our table at Cracker Barrel was Bobby Gene Messer's daughter, Kathy. You recall some weeks ago we talked about his liver transplant, and she told Billy that Bobby Gene is now able to drive again. He and Billy are of the same age, 67, and are old school chums.

Last year I bumped into William "DoeDoes" Bragg at White's Monument. He is a headstone cutter of names and dates. Then again by chance I saw him at work at Union Cemetery. He had been asked to cut the date of death, Feb. 23, 2000, into the stone for Elva Woody, wife of the late Edward Woody. It took DoeDoes about 10 minutes using a sand blasting technique. He mentioned that Creed and Glenda McMahan were connected to them somehow. So, I called Glenda, who manages Popcorn Video. She said that Elva was a close friend of Creed's aunt, Margaret Jenkins, who died last year. Elva lived near Green Corner. It was the first time I had seen a death date blasted into a tombstone so quickly but to last so long.

At another event, on Wed., surrounded by good barbecue, I got my best dessert of the week and also saw some new faces. Connie Frisbee, human resources manager at Newport Utilities, introduced me to interim manager Ron Fugatt. He is retired after some 40 years working in Chattanooga utilities and loves the folks at Newport Utilities. The event was a celebration of the start of the $10 million expansion at SI Group, formerly Schenectady International Chemicals on the old Great Lakes Chemical site. Brenda Sluder who has worked there for years had a lot to do with the great desserts. I picked the coconut cake and only by chance later that day learned that Carolyn Ramsey baked that particular one. I could imagine a super successful fundraiser being a bake-off between Brenda and Carolyn. I'd love to judge that competition. Plant manager Jeff Prickett also pointed out to me the osprey pair (These are huge birds that fish in our rivers) was back on the giant nest on a metal tower at the chemical plant. How's that for a safety endorsement. SI Group CEO & President Steven Large came in from Viking land for the event. Judging from his accent he is "so not from here," and told me his hometown was Birmingham, not Alabama, but England. He knew about the nesting ospreys and told me that at one of SI Group's Pacific rim chemical plants there is a large tropical tree on the their grounds filled with giant fruit bats.

If you read Plain Talk sports, perhaps you saw a photo of the Kickliter family. Our sports writer Steve Wilhoit happened to drop by to tell me the rest of the story about the photo that was not evident to readers not at the event. Matthew Kickliter, son of Dr. David Kickliter and Libby, helped the Carson-Newman Chorus sing the national anthem at the Smokies opening game Wednesday night. That's why Matthew was wearing tux at a baseball game. Wilhoit covered the event for us. He and I are excited about the prospect that you soon will be able to view hundreds more photos on the Plain Talk Website photo galleries later this month.

By mid-week, I was anxious to ride around town to find some news for you. You may have noticed some construction on a two-story front being built off Hwy. 25/70 across from where Junior Hommel has a sand and gravel business. At that business is a small shed for the scales operator, who happens to be John Keller. If I've ever met him, it has escaped me, but he is an interesting fellow and has a connection to Ronnie Bullard, who owns the building across the way being renovated. Keller, of the Parrottsville Kellers, retired about two years ago after he suffered a knee injury that was followed by a blood clot to his lungs, which normally is fatal. He has worked in maintenance all his life, and I hope to tell you more about him soon. One thing he did note, as I looked across the highway and saw Ronnie Bullard, was a job he did for Ronnie's father, M.M. Bullard. Back in the 1950s when the Bullard mansion was being built east of Newport, Milo Hurst was assisting. John hauled sand for Milo to the Bullard house construction site. Since John is not quite 65, that means he was a teenager and can still drive heavy equipment.

Being curious, I walked across the highway to find Ronnie so he could explain his current project. I knew the old metal warehouse had been used for furniture manufacturing years ago by Mr. Hazelwood. By summer, Ronnie hopes to have created about 12,000 square feet of warehousing for his own use. He has leased or sold most buildings he owned. The new front will be stucco, painted and modern looking for his offices. I'll try to get a photo for you when it is done. I did see Rusty Taylor and other workers out back where added floor space is being built.